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Was Tim Thomas Right to Snub Obama?

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas left the meeting of President Obama to the only other American player on last year’s roster, Steven Kampfer.

When the Boston Bruins visited the White House Monday to celebrate their 2011 Stanley Cup victory, they were without perhaps their most important player of their inspired championship run: goaltender Tim Thomas, who elected to stay at home rather than get an official commendation from President Barack Obama. His reason was rather simple: He just isn’t happy with the government. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Thomas wrote that he believes “the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People,” though he was quick to add that he considers both political parties at fault. “This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL,” he finished.

He isn’t the first athlete to snub Washington D.C., or even the first within the last year. In September, a handful of NASCAR stars like Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were unable to attend a White House ceremony in their honor, citing scheduling contacts. Last fall, Hall of Famer Dan Hampton declined to go after his 1985 Chicago Bears championship team was invited for a long-due celebration, saying “I’m not a fan of the guy in the White House.” And Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen went on vacation instead of visiting the White House of George W. Bush after his team won in 2005, though he never made any explicit political statement about it.

Thomas, though, is the first active star in recent memory to abstain for explicitly political reasons, surely a controversial response to something as innocuous as a handshake and a photo opportunity.

But at the risk of alienating fans and sponsors, he’s sticking firmly to his beliefs. “It’s a moment in which a professional athlete uses his fame, his influence for something he believes in, and does something that won’t be popular among fans or media. Sean Avery did the same thing: Potentially alienating his teammates by taking a political stand on gay marriage,” writes Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski. “If he’s celebrated and Thomas is demonized, what does that say about our real tolerance of free speech? That it’s only free when we agree with it?”

Of course, by declining the invitation with such a politically charged statement, Thomas is only drawing attention to himself rather than his team’s accomplishments. A public split from the Bruins is the unforgivably selfish part of his decision, says ESPN’s Joe McDonald. “The Bruins’ organization has prided itself, especially under team president Cam Neely … and coach Claude Julien, in being a true team,” he writes. “During the Cup run last spring, management, coaches and players alike spoke at length about the team’s chemistry. So it was odd that Thomas chose this stage to make a statement by not attending the White House visit with the rest of his teammates, especially given the fact that he is one of only two Americans on the Cup-winning team.”

* * *

Starting the season under the magnifying glass isn’t fun for any team, much less a group of college athletes trying to manage their championship hopes. The Syracuse Orange haven’t crumpled under the pressure. Before the year started, they had to manage the outside scrutiny over the sexual abuse allegations against former assistant coach Bernie Fine, as well as some calls for coach Jim Boeheim to resign. (Fine has denied all charges, and recently, some of the allegations against him have been withdrawn.) Syracuse responded by reeling off 20 straight victories to start the season before losing its No. 1 ranking in a 67-58 upset at the hands of Notre Dame. They reclaimed a bit of their momentum Monday by defeating Big East rivals Cincinnati, good for Boeheim’s 877th victory, moving him past Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp into fourth on the all-time Division I victories list. It’s a remarkable turnaround, considering the seeming shakiness of Boeheim’s job security a few months ago. “Seven weeks ago I wanted Syracuse to fire Boeheim,” Gregg Doyel writes for CBS Sports. “Today I’m calling him the Coach of the Year.”

Now, they’ll have to weather another tide: whether or not star center Fab Melo will be allowed to return to the team after missing two games for an undisclosed academic reason. Though he hasn’t distinguished himself offensively, Melo is Syracuse’s most important defender and a key cog in their vaunted zone defense. With his return up in the air, the Orange will once again have to adapt. “It was a little like seeing a Rolling Stones concert with someone other than Keith Richards playing guitar. The Syracuse Orange are quite the basketball team with Fab Melo in absentia, proficient enough to score a decisive road victory over a capable team such as the Cincinnati Bearcats,” Mike DeCourcy writes for the Sportsing News. “But was that really Syracuse? It might have to be.”

* * *

Hard to believe after what seems like such a short time, but in defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the Australian Open, Roger Federer completed the 1,000th match of his career. It’s a big, round milestone towards officially eclipsing tennis greats like Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Federer’s dominating three-set victory came against the man who shockingly defeated him for the 2009 U.S. Open title. “Del Potro never became a Federer rival, much less an enemy. But for Federer, he represented a player – seven years his junior – who deprived him of a major and loomed as a threat to win another,” writes SI’s Jon Wertheim. “As far as statements go, you can do worse than beating this guy to win a milestone match.”

Looking for his 17th major singles title, Federer advances to his ninth consecutive Australian Open semifinal and his 30th overall grand slam semi. He’ll play longtime rival Rafael Nadal in this round, the first time in seven years they’ve been positioned on the same side of the tournament bracket at a grand slam competition. With No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 4 Andy Murray lurking on the other side as potential finals contenders, a Federer sweep would be a symbolic display of historical dominance, and earn him his fifth Australian Open championship.

Comments (5 of 206)

Why does the media propaganda machine demonise a man and American citizen for exercising his basic free speech rights enshrined in the constitution?
Why should he shake hands/smile with representatives (no matter which party) that only serve the paying lobbies? “Representative democracy” doesn't represent the middle class anymore; it represents the myriad of special interests...the paying votes, not the popular vote...

12:34 am January 27, 2012

Trueamerican wrote:

I fully agree that Tim Thomas had every right to refuse to attend the whitehouse ceremony and that our supposed commanded in chief should honor his choice and recognize it as any american should. Since when do Americans bow down to out elected officials? Regardless of what you may have learned in the socialist public school system, or the media in the last 30 years in this country, we the people are in charge, not the elected officials. That is how our founding fathers meant it to be. Do your research, study history and the founding of our great nation. When we let tyrants dictate what we should do, when we should do it, and how we should live our lives, then we have truly lost our freedom and the country as a whole. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of europe. I feel sorry for his teammates, those highly skilled athletes whose only fault is that they are not americans and do not understand individual freedom. It is what has set us apart from the rest of the world and is why we are the nation with the highest immigration, legal or not! Sorry Canada, although I have great respect for your hockey players and believe you are our closest trading partner and ally, you do not understand what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America.

9:38 pm January 26, 2012

Cheevers#30HOF wrote:

Tim Thomas had every right as an American to do what he did. Free speech requires us to tolerate speech we disagree with. However he should have gone. Whatever you feel about the man, he is the President and Thomas should have honored the office and his teammates.
Having said that, it is hypocritical beyond belief for those who now howl at Thomas, especially in Boston, to have remained silent when among others Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino, John Henry, Manny Ramirez, Michael Jordan, James Harrison, and yes the sainted Larry Bird, et al, skipped White House visits.

4:52 pm January 26, 2012

jd wrote:

Tim Thomas should resign and go back to Canada

6:56 pm January 25, 2012

McGuire wrote:

We all have the right to free speech, but Thomas put himself in front of his team, and went out of his way to release a statement on the very day the team was at the White House, once again, taking attention away from his team. Why doesn't he ask some of his foreign teammates about the improvished countries and suppressive governments they had to escape from? The thousands of athletes who've visited the White House haven't all voted for the person in office, but they went because it's the respectful thing to do.

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